The First Soul Ring

"Merge!"

Gu Yuena waved her jade-like hand, and Xu Lanqing, who was lying on the ground, floated into the air. She pressed her palm against his chest once more, pouring in soul power to stir the remnants of the seven-colored energy within him. The seven-colored light erupted brilliantly.

"Sizzle~~"

When the purple energy covering his body touched the seven-colored light, it retreated rapidly like spring snow melting under the sun. Before long, it had been completely supplanted by the seven-colored radiance.

Gu Yuena gazed at Xu Lanqing's face. What she had just done was merely the simplest form of suppressing the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon. With the power of the Dragon God present, all dragon kin beneath the Dragon God would be easily subdued.

The hardest part remained: how to eradicate its remnant soul.

The soul has always been the most vital part of a person. Even if the physical body is incredibly powerful, if the soul dies, it is nothing more than a walking corpse.

She took a deep breath, purple light swirling in her eyes, and extended a finger as white and delicate as jade, gently tapping the center of Xu Lanqing's forehead.

The moment Gu Yuena's finger touched him, Xu Lanqing's twisted expression quietly returned to calm, and his furrowed brows smoothed out.

Inside Xu Lanqing's Sea of Consciousness, the seven-colored mental barrier was teetering on the brink of collapse. Countless cracks had appeared on its surface, with the largest one spanning almost the entire barrier.

Indeed, this mental barrier was not only imprisoning Xu Lanqing but also serving as a form of protection.

Outside the mental barrier, the deep purple Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon circled and flew, its body suffused with intense power of destruction. Suddenly, it halted its fierce onslaught.

Because in front of it, Gu Yuena's mental projection had suddenly appeared, and the mental barrier it was about to shatter was rapidly repairing itself.

Gu Yuena's mental power swept across the pale golden Sea of Consciousness. The white flames from before had vanished, leaving only the God Core of the Golden Dragon King, yet Xu Lanqing was nowhere to be seen.

But he must still be inside; with the mental barrier in place, there was no way he could have escaped.

Gu Yuena felt a complex mix of emotions. He must be inside the God Core, fusing with the godhood of the Golden Dragon King.

"Roar--"

The Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon roared at Gu Yuena, charging madly at her while carrying a soul power filled with destruction.

Gu Yuena withdrew her focus. The purple light in her eyes became more dazzling than ever. Concentrating fully, she drove her invisible mental power to condense into a tidal wave, surging forward to meet the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon without the slightest intention of backing down.

Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, never to return.

The incoming, ferocious power met with a powerful obstruction, and the two sides reached a stalemate.

A battle of souls is incredibly perilous; the invisible torrents of mental power collided silently, without a sound.

As time passed, the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon roared incessantly. It was like duckweed without roots; the longer the battle dragged on, the more disadvantageous it became for the dragon.

In Gu Yuena's deep pupils, the dragon's futile roars were reflected.

The next moment.

She unleashed an unprecedented amount of power in one breath, sending an even larger torrent crashing toward the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon.

The Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon was instantly sent flying, its formation collapsing like a river flowing in reverse.

"I am not reconciled!"

Its resentful roar echoed through the space:

"The Dragon God killed me back then, and now you want to kill me too? If that's the case, then let's die together!"

Its vast mental power rapidly retracted, followed by a terrifying explosion; driven to despair, it had gone mad.

Gu Yuena bit her lower lip. It had turned out this way after all. With their strengths being roughly equal, regardless of whether she tried to stop it or not, the opponent's final desperate counterattack would be absolutely terrifying.

She could retreat now to save herself, but Xu Lanqing would be doomed to die without a burial place.

What should she do? Give up, or take the risk?

Her willow-leaf brows furrowed; for a moment, she could not decide.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration crossed her mind.

Ignoring the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon, she turned and flew toward the God Core of the Golden Dragon King. She could no longer worry about whether this would harm Xu Lanqing's soul; survival was the priority.

Soon.

She found the unconscious Xu Lanqing. Without hesitation, she stepped forward, opened her arms to embrace him, and closed her eyes.

Souls embraced, and their auras connected.

Their auras began to sublimate continuously, and a strange energy permeated the space. The next moment, a point of light appeared where their foreheads touched—the light was nine-colored.

Immediately after.

A phantom figure wearing nine-colored robes suddenly appeared behind them, domineering and peerless, making one feel an irresistible urge to submit.

The nine-colored light spread directly, instantly enveloping the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon.

The mental projection of the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon froze abruptly, its dragon eyes widening, filled with disbelief and terror. An indescribable sense of fear nearly caused it to collapse.

The brilliant, multicolored light swept over its entire body. Wherever the light passed, its mental projection seemed to be assimilated, turning bit by bit into gorgeous specks of light.

Everything appeared quickly and vanished just as fast.

When the nine-colored light faded, everything returned to its original state. The Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon was gone, as if nothing had ever happened.

"Phew~"

Gu Yuena released her arms and let out a long sigh of relief, her mood lightening significantly.

However, the matter was not yet over; the Dragon Pearl of the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon was still inside Xu Lanqing's body, and it had to be dealt with as soon as possible.

She withdrew from Xu Lanqing's Sea of Consciousness and returned to her own body.

Her long, curled eyelashes fluttered, and she opened her eyes, which shimmered with a purple luster. Her expression was one of extreme exhaustion; the consumption of her mental energy had been too great.

Ignoring the need for rest, she waved her right hand again, gathering vast soul power at her fingertips. With fluid, practiced motions, she traced mysterious runes in the air before Xu Lanqing, each one drifting down to land upon the purple Dragon Pearl located at his dantian.

Following this, she flicked her left hand, and the purple Left Arm Soul Bone in her grasp quietly merged into Xu Lanqing's body.

The Dragon Pearl had already become one with Xu Lanqing; it was impossible to extract it, so the only remaining option was to seal it.

The Left Arm Soul Bone, which also belonged to the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon, was undoubtedly the best material for the seal. If successful, not only would Xu Lanqing be unharmed, but he would actually turn a misfortune into a blessing.

As the Left Arm Soul Bone of the Purple Imperial Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon fused, Xu Lanqing's fair left arm turned a deep shade of purple.

Gu Yuena controlled the fusion of the soul bone with her left hand while the seal from her right hand was already complete. She carefully drew out the power of the Dragon Pearl, strand by strand, and integrated it into the soul bone.

This process was a long one.

Her focused gaze did not dare to waver for even a second, and crystalline beads of sweat gathered along her cheeks, pooled at her rounded chin, and finally dripped onto Xu Lanqing's collar.

With the final trace of soul power transferred, sealed, and fused, she checked everything repeatedly before finally setting her heart at ease.

"Hum~"

A purple-gold Soul Ring emerged from Xu Lanqing's body, circled him once, and then vanished.

Seeing the results of her work, Gu Yuena's eyes curved, and a beautiful smile unconsciously tugged at the corners of her lips, causing the entire space to brighten.

Suddenly, her figure staggered, and her vision blurred. She hurriedly sat cross-legged to meditate and recover.

"The consumption was too great; I nearly overdrawn myself. This is the first time in so many years that I've been this exhausted."

Gu Yuena gazed at the boy's handsome face, her cheeks puffing out as she couldn't help but grumble, "It's all your fault. Nothing good ever happens when I meet you."

Words alone weren't enough to vent her frustration, so she reached out, pulled at the boy's cheeks, let them snap back, and only stopped after she had thoroughly teased him.

However, looking at the sleeping Xu Lanqing, her gem-like, translucent purple eyes didn't blink, and a sense of inner confusion clouded her brow...